The Galadhrim Tour Guides
by Crimson Cupcake
Summary: Modernized AU! The Fellowship are on vacation, exploring the wonderful forest of Lothlorien and the ruins of Caras Galadhon. Here, who should they find as a tour guide but Haldir and his brothers?


**A/N:** Hi guys! This is actually for our English assignment. We were asked to appropriate a piece of any book, and the word limit was 1k (which is way too low if you ask me). So yeah, that explains the hurried ending. And I guess...have fun? And, sorry, I have to announce this, I've actually started the Silmarillion! 8D -am pleased- Anyway.

_Disclaimer: LOTR belongs to not-me. 8D_

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The Company of eight now turned aside from the path, and went into the shadow of the deeper woods. They travelled in silence, quietly observing the beautiful trees which, though bare, still shone in their winter glory. The forest of Lothlórien seemed almost to glow with a golden haze, creeping in like the gentle mist as the sun slowly sank behind the trees.

At length they crossed a river and continued on in higher spirits, for the water was clean and pure, untouched by the pollution that plagues the earth. They rested briefly, cleansing their sore feet as Legolas brushed his hair. "This is the river of Nimrodel," he told them. "It was named after a maiden in folklore, and there were many songs sung about her. I cannot sing much, but it is long and sad."

"The misery was not due my kin," Gimli growled.

"Nor mine," added Boromir.

"You both sound like I'm accusing you," snapped Legolas, examining his reflection in the Nimrodel. "I'm doing nothing of the sort."

Aragorn sighed and turned towards the forest. "Let's go. We have much ground to cover, and despite knowing a lot about these lands, I cannot be your tour guide. Nor can Legolas, for he is not familiar with these woods."

"Did someone mention _tour guides_?" asked a voice, and the sound of soft laughter echoed overhead.

Legolas looked up and his face broke into a smile. At the same time, three tall, pale figures dropped down from the tree in front of them. The one who had spoken stepped forward.

"Hey. I'm Haldir, a tour guide for the Galadhrim." Flashing an award-winning smile, he handed Aragorn a business card which the ranger pocketed, looking bemused. "These are my brothers, Rúmil and Orophin. We moved here from Wales a few months ago, so they don't speak much English." Rúmil bowed and Orophin flipped his hair. "If you're looking for guides, look no further. We know everything about Lothlórien, and will even give you a complementary tour around the fabled ruins of Caras Galadhorn buried deep within these woods. So how about it?"

Legolas exchanged glances with Aragorn, who exchanged glances with Boromir, who exchanged glances with Frodo, who exchanged glances with Sam.

"Sure," they said simultaneously.

Haldir rubbed his hands together. "Great!" He then glanced up at the red sun, setting behind the tall trees and filling the sky with a beautiful radiance. "But first things first; dinner. We'll show you around tomorrow. Come on, we have a tree house." He showed them a hidden ladder, and in single file they climbed up, with Haldir first and Orophin and Rúmil bringing up the rear.

When the travellers reached the platform, each person could easily see that it was not _one_ tree house that was built, but many of them connected by slim wooden bridges. "It suits the mood of Lothlórien," Haldir explained as he assigned their respective tree houses. "Imagine how stupid it would look if we built a mansion in the middle of an ancient forest." He grinned.

The Halflings had a tree house to themselves, and to this Frodo readily agreed. His stomach grumbled, and Pippin was already complaining about food. The sooner they get this over with, the sooner they could eat. After unpacking, a tall elf—Frodo guessed it was probably Orophin—came to fetch them.

"_Ddod gyda mi_," said the elf, and beckoned with his hand. Frodo took his words to mean something along the lines of 'come with me'. "_Cinio disgwyl_."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean, Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked him in a hushed whisper as Orophin turned to leave.

Frodo shrugged, but Pippin overheard. "Dinner, duh!" he piped up.

They followed the elf to the largest tree house and found the rest of the Company already there. Frodo was relieved to see Haldir and Rúmil already passing out menus. His stomach growled once more, and he sat down with the rest of the Company.

Fifteen minutes later, Frodo was finally satisfied enough to take a look around the tree house. Every inch of it seemed to be covered in posters. There were only two types: one that featured a sort of cake or biscuit called _lembas_—a food Frodo had never heard of, but he guessed it was Welsh—and the other type of poster featured _Elvish _rope. Frodo knew Sam was very passionate about the 'Elvish' brand, so he resolved to buy some rope when they left.

Beside him, Legolas and Aragorn were engaged in a serious conversation.

"...pity we didn't come to Lórien in spring," Legolas was saying. "It would have been nice to see the beautiful flowers."

Aragorn shrugged. "It can't be helped, just be glad you're coming here at all. It was Gandalf, after all, who got us the tickets on this vacation."

"It's a bit sad Gandalf had to turn back in the ruins of Moria, isn't it?" Frodo asked, joining in. "I'm sure he would have liked to come here."

"That's what you have to do when you're a magician," Aragorn sighed. "Answering calls all the time is such a pain. Still, Lórien is beautiful in winter as well." After a pause, he added, "So where are you taking us tomorrow, Haldir?"

"It's still a long while from Caras Galadhorn," Haldir grinned, sliding easily into the conversation, "so we'll be taking you on a bushwalk tomorrow and you'll reach the ruins by late afternoon. You'll then have a few hours to yourself before we change tour guides. You'll be going with our boss, Mrs. Galadriel."

"We _change_ tour guides?" asked Legolas, looking horrified. "But I like you guys!"

"Why thank you," Haldir smiled, "but I'm afraid we cannot stay. We have other...duties."

"Like?" prompted Merry.

Haldir smirked evilly. "Like the art of hair styling, of course."

Legolas's eyes lit up, Rúmil nodded fervently and Orophin began brushing his hair. Everyone else backed away.

"They're crazy," remarked Pippin. "They're all crazy."

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**A/N:** Trust me to choose the least-important scene in LOTR xD (At least, if you're not a Haldir fan) By the way, the Welsh was...from a dictionary/translator, so don't sue me if it's wrong. 8D

Reviews would be nice~

-CC


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